Can Palmer Luckey Reinvent the U.S. Defense Industry? | WSJ

Military tech startup Anduril Industries is shaking up the U.S. defense industry as it is one of the few privately held technology companies finding success as a Defense Department contractor. But what makes the company’s software so unique that it is being used across multiple branches of the U.S. military and in both the Russia-Ukraine War and Israel-Hamas War?
WSJ explains how this startup is operating in order to disrupt the U.S. defense industry.
Chapters:
0:00 Anduril’s vision
1:04 Palmer Luckey
1:48 Software
2:58 “Moneyball Military”
4:55 America’s defense industry consolidation
5:53 Anduril acquiring other startups
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#Military #Tech #WSJ

[@NChambernator]

"The problem is there's no real competition" "When we buy up companies we look for the most competitive people we can't keep up with"

[@TheStrangeBloke]

Smaller companies are typically selling their products to one of the primes. The process for contracting is so complex that a small company essentially can't get a contract for defense by itself.

[@bernhardzunk7402]

Cost plus incentive contracts are supposed to transition to competitively bid fixed price contracts. This is only practical if the product is produced in large numbers and License to several manufacturers or there is a competing product (eg F-16 vs F-17/18) etc. Politics then comes in. Plants need to be kept open in certain congressman's electorate for instance and of course the voters and workers there do need stability.

[@raquetdude]

Tech sector approach “move fast and break things” and “fully reliant on low interest rates”

[@HMuny55]

That is exactly what I came to the comments to type haha.

[@AntoinettePalermo-xs6it]

Elon Musk in Silicone disguise 🥸 aka Skirgailia 666,, aka not so Lucky. “I” just saw you leaving the Dalhart airport dressed in drag as a 50 year old woman w/black curly hair with white blouse.

[@toddc2788]

Killer graph depicting the merger of defense contractors over time!

[@1247.cccccc]

2002 version page 134 of 319 history.nasa.gov/AeroCommissionFinalReport.pdf Have a nice day.

[@rickintexas1584]

I’ve been involved in this industry since the early 1980s. That graphic definitely resonated with me.

[@abdulbasitbello2381]

That visualization!!!

[@mynameisawesomeman]

Here's the thing though; you can pick almost any industry and you'll see the same trend. We've got major problems with industry consolidation in the West and no one recognizes it. It's just not healthy for capitalism to be run by oligopolies, for our politics, and aspects of cultural life.

[@deleuzersig]

@@mynameisawesomeman: If we want a liberal form of capitalism, that's what we'll get.

[@blank.9301]

“The pharmaceutical industry cares about world health as much as the arms industry cares about world peace”✌️

[@Pilson360]

In the nuclear age, the true enemy is war itself.

[@shafthespaceegg]

Just because they’re profit focused doesn’t mean their products are not effective

[@fire17102]

​@@shafthespaceeggmaybe, but they are incentivized to protect their market (to put lightly), can't have everyone be healthy, that won't generate profits.. it's like the tinder mechanics, it's not in their profit for you to find long lasting love, it's better for them to keep people coming

[@shafthespaceegg]

@@fire17102 but I do see what you’re trying to say with the tinder thing like they’re incentivized to keep you coming back for more

[@bdub1934]

the arms industry has to evolve or the right to have your opinion will not exist

[@bobthemagicmoose]

The main issue is that the big expensive contracts are heavily geared towards jobs creation and not military effectiveness. If your product doesn’t require significant labor to create, it will be difficult to get congressional support, with is usually predicated on funneling money into powerful districts.

[@Khuros]

That's not how anything works. Learn how contracts work.

[@ebrimajallow9631]

@@Khuroshe is talking bout how the defense contractors influence congress through job creation and manufacturing. It will be hard for them to influence congress to vote in law that are in thier best interest, because they don’t have the same leverage as other big contractors.

[@AJ-jx5gm]

@@Khurosthats how things work in congress. Even NASA has to spend more money building rockets so that more states can get a piece of the $ spent on building the rockets. Politicians in congress create waste in government spending to please businesses and workers in their states in the name of creating jobs and boosting their states' economy.

[@ihmpall]

@@Khurosgo to school kid he’s 100% right now

[@hikerJohn]

@@Khuros Contracts may not work that way but congressional funding often does.

[@user-yg5hk1yb3n]

This is exactly what the defense industry needs - defense companies taking enough interest in their products to spend more on their projects than the government does - or even funding them alone if they don't get a contract to build it.

[@youtuberconsuming6411]

this is just a money grab. they get paid whether their stuff is effective in the field or not.

[@Vysair]

and goes towards the full automation route

[@oStealthKiller]

Probably more like fat subscription fees later on for the software that is needed to use the equipment they paid extra for (think that drone helicopter) to have access to that system’s effectiveness just like the “tech model.”

[@ashleigh3021]

@@youtuberconsuming6411You’re confusing the two approaches, cost plus contracting literally incentivizes delays.

[@davidtaliaferro]

Actually the 5 Defense contractors are thinking about merging into one; the preliminary name is SKYNET.

[@Zero-lh1rb]

Guess is ChatGPT or Gemini going to be the first hack into Skynet?

[@theviper3581]

False information. There’s no proof of this online from any reliable source. Even if this were true, it would violate antitrust laws

[@MR-backup]

What do the other 2 comments here say?????? 😭

[@samuelsoundararaj]

@@MR-backup😅i want to know the same

[@Zariel_999]

they probably got deleted by youtube for having links @@MR-backup

[@zibbitybibbitybop]

If Anduril is smart, they'll also do a lot of research into anti-drone weaponry, so either they can harden their drones against it or sell that tech themselves. If they don't, they're liable to see their market dry up due to somebody else perfecting directed energy weapons, or something like that. Drone defenses have evolved in Ukraine just as fast as drone usage.

[@Almost3331]

You are watching a video that covers anti drone tech. That's part of what road runner does.

[@eden5260]

They have a drone that does that. Is that the perfect solution? I don't believe so but it is something

[@h.c4898]

They already have.

[@Blaze6108]

@@Almost3331 Yeah, but the problem here is that anything which is small and needs to fly (and thus presumably has little armor) is a prime target for laser weaponry. That one doesn't get as much press, but lasers have been evolving incredibly rapidly as well. Before the 90s everyone thought lasers would be limited to small gas-powered applications, then after the 90s chemical lasers were the most we could do, then solid-state electronics matured and now we have better lasers, and by 2020 even better fiber lasers started to get around.

[@MelbourneMeMe]

If anduril was smart, they would go apply their tech to win the war in Ukraine. What better test of concept....

[@debojyotipanda938]

The future looks bright man. With all these weapons, the wars of the future will be better than ever before. What a time to be alive!

[@jameswellham1]

😂

[@myndwork]

Hold on to your papers

[@liamsouthwell27]

Please read Starship Troopers or serve.

[@petor95]

😂

[@dragonslowroller1541]

Just because China is building mega projects for its people doesn't mean they aren't making defense weapons.

[@sid8987]

Andúril, also called the Flame of the West and the Sword Reforged, was the sword which was reforged from the shards of Narsil in Rivendell. Who else thought of Tolkien verse and LOTR when you saw the word Anduril?

[@kingsonchizi]

Angry you beat me this comment 😂😂

[@kingsonchizi]

Sauron's bane

[@federicozanolli]

3:14 And tell me that isnt an Elf Haha

[@okinawanah3463]

Palantir

[@oicirbaFabricio]

I am reading Lord of the Rings now :)

[@rhysiieboii]

If the war in Ukraine has taught us anything it's that tanks, ships, aircraft are all too easy to destroy with modern systems and buying/maintaining them may not be worth the cost. Low cost, destructive and high quantity systems are a genius way to fight modern wars.

[@rhysiieboii]

@@mythbuster6126 Not relevant at all but o k

[@frankrenda2519]

what it taught us is america couldnt supply ukraine with a drone with the performance of the russian lancet

[@rustyyb8450]

@@mythbuster6126 Nuclear just eliminates everyone from the war and acutely focuses them on the business of trying to conserve what's left of their ability to sustain themselves. Nuclear isn't for fighting wars, it's for demotivating the participants and, likely, all of their neighbors.

[@TheYaegerjeusmc]

Quiet kid.

[@MelbourneMeMe]

Anduril should go apply their trade in Ukraine as a proof of concept experiment. Go win the war, prove yourself, become the defence company of the future.

[@tommcclelland119]

I’m an old Veteran that’s been a contractor in the environmental industry for 40+ years. Most of our core business is federal contracts. It’s a breath of fresh air to witness the emergence of these kind of government contractors. Their process, and their products are off the hook.

[@rhinostar3825]

"That's kind of one of the coolest things about autonomous systems, not nacessarily the fact that they can think faster or do better than a person, but they can also just throw away their lives" - Pamer Luckey

[@ac1888]

I can only imagine the calculation that it took to engineer Mr. Lucky’s perfect mullet. Not to long not to short.

[@bonedeath]

He's not gonna pick you dude, chill out

[@ac1888]

@@bonedeath What? Why would I want to be picked for anything. I am military retired. That was an asinine comment. You should sit down.

[@Norsilca]

He did perfectly engineer the worst hair and facial hair possible.

[@stevetennispro]

They do hire military people. Just saying.@@ac1888

[@CertifiedClapaholic]

It's fascinating the lengths we humans go to in order to end the lives of others. Truly remarkable and sad.

[@ridnthawave708]

Good point they can use these drones to fly through the air space to really see what’s in the Antarctic but no they rather develop These things for nefarious uses

[@Invadix-fs4zr]

Or to protect the lives of innocents

[@CertifiedClapaholic]

@@Invadix-fs4zr which would be the result of.....?

[@shuckification]

​@@Invadix-fs4zr by killing more innocent people in the name to protect innocent lives.

[@sandyovals]

It's fascinating the lengths we humans will go to in order to manipulate ideas to fit our personal bias.

[@musicalintuition]

Sorry, but to go faster than Mach 1, or for full explosive yield, you need to be a premium member. Monthly packages start at 1999$ per drone.

[@BasedTruthSeeker]

Its the military so $199,999 per

[@mill2712]

​@@BasedTruthSeeker Considering such super sonic vehicles like jets can cost tens of thousands per flight hour, paying 2,000 or even 200,000 a month per something like that might be preferable.

[@XxxionxX]

This is terrifying.

[@baldieman64]

Yes, but there is no putting the genie back in the bottle. If the other side is using smart and fast systems, you have to counter with your own, because humans can't react fast enough.

[@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat]

"I think that it's our responsibility to figure out how to use AI responsibly to MAXIMIZE the amount of pain we inflict on the bad guys." -Palmer Lucky, "Honestly" podcast, 2024.

[@NotKimiRaikkonen]

Not as terrifying as just sitting by while China and Russia build this stuff.

[@PatrickBergensen-kali-yuga2005]

Ooooo shiver me timber

[@user-bi4hw2wi2k]

@@baldieman64 And add in AGI similar to AWS RoboMaker with automated accelerated hypothesis generation thinking .... Batta Bing Batta Boom !

[@sunnindawg]

Moneyball Military-a massive arsenal of smaller, lower-cost, autonomous systems that can be generated over the next few years, fielded rapidly and at scale to US forces, and transferred in large numbers to our allies and partners. This would also require the generation of an alternative industrial base to produce at scale what would essentially be commercially derived, consumable weapon systems. and the digital means of connecting them into a military version of the Internet of Things.

[@oStealthKiller]

And like factoring in the value for “goodwill” in accounting for investments (usually social cause related), the value if an individual’s life, both in dollars lost (training, etc.) and in war edfort morale, is difficult to calculate but autonomous AI driven drone systems eliminate a huge portion of that portion of the sacrifices necessary for victory. There are A LOT of potential dangers with a system like that (like an enemy utilizing cyberattacks to turn your entire fleet against you simultaneously), but allowing yourself to be surpassed in that realm out of fear for the unknown is a recipe for disaster. I hope this company eats everyone’s lunch or forces them to innovate intensely.

[@kingandqueenturben8293]

Very very very user friendly.. so friendly it wants to hug ALL humans... 🎉

[@rexringtail471]

YES! I pitched some things in an RFP a few years back in the defense space. Was shocked that everyone else came in so much more expensive with their offerings until I understood the cost + dynamic and that there are laws limiting your overall profit margin. Why does the DoD care what my profit margin is if my product is better, and I cost 1/5th the other offers to do the job better?

[@deanmachine7971]

This is genius. But it will eventually become part of one of the big defense contractors. And if they don't sell out, the big guys will throw a ton of money into developing similar systems. I would imagine they are already in the works at LMT, RTX, BA, NOC, GD, and more. They all see how the cheap drones are able to inflict damage on ships and equpment hundreds or even thousands times more expensive. The art of war is constantly changing.

[@Ragnar707]

The other primes can make similar systems. The difference is that they are reliant on the contracting model which doesn’t incentivize efficient business. Anduril develops products on their own time and money, and then goes to sell it to the government. So they have every incentive to do things well

[@3User]

@@Ragnar707 doesn't matter, LM is 10x bigger and has been in the industry so long now that it's essentially integrated into heart of the DOD. This isn't the tech world where some new startup will revolutionize the future, all the systems that Anduril can produce, LM can produce twice as fast.

[@3User]

to further add onto my point, it seems that anduril is in the typical contractor phase where their ambitions outpace their experience. I've experienced it personally when I've worked with R&D eggheads numerous times testing out some new system for them where they don't understand why I can't instantly see all enemies in an area on thermal sights with a drone when they clearly predicted that it would be incredibly easy to do so without actually understanding how PID works.

[@BorisForOffice]

@@3User LM cannot produce things twice as fast. Traditional defense contractors produce things ten times as slowly. It's so ingrained in their culture that it would be impossible to fix. Small companies have the speed advantage and that is even more true in the defense space.

[@oStealthKiller]

With the money they have now, they are likely going to be a permanent player in the defence software scene.

[@rustyyb8450]

It's a single use interceptor for what's likely to be a swarm attack. Even if the swarm isn't, ALL AT ONCE, dealing with many attackers by way of a single use device just doesn't get the job done unless you lug a great quantity; a requirement for offensive. Should intercept with detachable metal net bag that allows the interceptor to fight again. OR, possibly a towed proximity activated warhead.

[@MR-backup]

Just one EMP weapon, and your swarm has turned into an electronics graveyard. I would argue these "weapons" are more suited for single use interceptor, you mentioned.

[@JacobJoesph]

@@MR-backup Yeah but they can just cover the devices in copper so the emp doesn't affect it. The same thing can also be said about metal nets Because they can just put a guard on the fans of the device to prevent anything from damaging it.

[@H0kieJoe]

How well will Anduril's systems work after an EMP attack? That same question applies to the rest of the 'connected' battlefield.

[@seanmcgrady8688]

It's a good question. One way the US is developing its military to counter China's lots-of-boats-and-rockets strategy is to rely more on powerful but small, numerous squads of marines with lots of drone & tool capabilities. Imagine if you can use a squad of marines & drones with a singular boat to take out a destroyer? That's the way our military is drifting for seaborne combat. Marines have figured out how to launch cruise missiles from trucks recently, so the decentralized punch approach is trending strongly.

[@batmanyk]

are there NNEMP weapons? I cant find any. There are nuclear bombs, but if they being used, there is no need for drones anymore

[@dx-ek4vr]

IIRC, most of all our Military electronics are already hardened against EMP

[@loganwolfram4216]

Anduril is a neat company. Glad to have them on our side.

[@motivatedbyaction3299]

This company better have some stellar IP security in place, because they are now on the radar of every adversary.

[@ktw5141]

there is no IP in warfare. if it falls the enemy's hand they own it

[@michaelanthony4750]

@@ktw5141 Yeah what are they going to do, sue someone they are at war with? lol

[@arisilburt7170]

5:24 gotta love how the CEO messes up the counting on his right hand lol… WSJ you couldn’t have done another take??

[@TheInfidel_SlavaUA]

They certainly got the name right... "Flame of the West" , epic!

[@robertpatrick3350]

Not the pronunciation though……

[@CulinVlau]

Sure they did. The irony of using a name from a book whose author disliked the evolution of military technology.

[@SanjaySingh-oh7hv]

Palmer Luckey does have a sense of showmanship, I'll give him that. Anduril ... Aragorn's sword from Lord of the Rings... translates Flame of the West in the Common Speech. And perhaps I'm taking this a bit far, but at 0:53, where they show the CRO, for a moment I thought he was an elf because of his ears.

[@elliotnemeth]

​@@CulinVlau This right here. They should've called themselves Isengard Industries

[@zagreus5773]

Epic? Tolkien is turning in his grave if he saw his work being used by a military company.

[@scasey1960]

Now that this founder is promoted on WSJ, will he also be convicted of fraud and sentenced to jail 5-10 years from now?

[@alexanderphilip1809]

You are thinking about Forbes under 30. Businesses fail that's just part of the nature of private enterprises fraud on the other hand is much more serious.

[@jonr6680]

No, under the watchful patronage of the defense dept, CIA or whatever black ops deniable org with a global finance arm. If they do what they're told. Or could go rogue like some Bond supervillain. But honestly another drone isn't going to change the laws of physics. So again, no. Apart from the death, defense is actually quite boring. Lowest cost contracts, vast complex requirements definitions, squabbling government & cancellations, bickering inter service rivalry.

[@polygonalfortress]

cannot fault your scepticism on that, especially in an industry that literally deals with military technology and arms

[@gu9838]

well the fact that he sold out and sold oculus to facebook SHOULD be criminal lol

[@BuddyGorey]

3 to 5

[@kelleren4840]

Anduril, Aragorn's sword from the Lord of the Rings, literally means "The Flame of The West". While a very cool name for a Western defense manufacturer, given Tolkien's view on imperialism, I wonder how he would feel about Anduril being associated with propping up US imperial interests abroad.

[@KlausBahnhof]

Tolkien will be turning in his grave. The lack of self-awareness on the part of this death merchant is mind-blowing.

[@VEC7ORlt]

If the title ends with a question - answer is no. Law of headlines.

[@jazilzaim]

Amazing to see Palmer Lucky step up to make our country strong! Anduril has been a great innovator in this space!

[@EDITS_SC]

This company has been working with the Royal Australian Navy on the Ghost Shark autonomous sub.

[@AndrewSmith-dk7qt]

5:21 This man said “we live in a world where 80% of weapons procurement goes to just 5 companies” and holds up 3 fingers 💀

[@stevetennispro]

And corrected himself... a fraction of a second later. Palmer speaks and thinks very fast. IMO small inconsequential mistakes like that are only interesting to small inconsequential minds.

[@R.L.Enterprise]

awesome video and very insightful

[@theonidas]

glad to see Trinity provide such powerful performance once again. im sure she misses the matrix 😂

[@marcusoutdoors4999]

I thought exactly that, I couldn’t take her seriously, someone needs to have a quiet word to save her from her ego

[@chirstophersjohnson]

@@marcusoutdoors4999 can you point to an attitude or quote from her in this video where you would have also said that about a man? I mean the CEO was wearing a Return of the Jedi-themed Hawaii shirt featuring Ewoks and yet you're commenting on her attire and questioning whether to take her seriously?

[@marcusoutdoors4999]

I would absolutely say that about a man who was for example dressing up as Neo. It’s worth looking at her bio, a typical academic who has delivered little or nothing of value, and has engaged in questionable work in light of the Twitter files. As for the flowery shirt and the ill advised facial hair, I’m guessing that it is a useful distraction from the fact that he’s deploying his massive genius in creating weapons of death. But I’m OK with both his attire and his work as it is sadly necessary work. @@chirstophersjohnson

[@oStealthKiller]

They should watch the scene in Sicario where Josh Brolin is rockin sandals lol

[@SafetyLucas]

Her eyes look alien

[@itamars5911]

"The US military likes to buy things. The whole contract mechanism is designed to buy things..."

[@novemberalpha6023]

Yes... And based on the "use & throw" Principles

[@Beavereaver]

She was making the point that they don’t see software as being a thing but that they should.

[@itamars5911]

@@Beavereaver Which is also nonsense. Since every fighter jet and every radar is heavily dependent on software. And i believe that the "contract mechanism" has taken this fact into acccount

[@chhoc]

5:04 that is a superb graphic, well done commission on the future

[@colekarrh9114]

Man got fired from making VR and went to the Military Industrial Complex

[@mcs914]

Kinda weird don't you think

[@phlooney]

“Jesus wept, for he had no more worlds to conquer!!”

[@renacampos5837]

Imagine a global community where conflicts are resolved through dialogue, understanding, and cooperation. Imagine the resources, energy, and creativity that could be redirected toward progress, innovation, and enhancing lives. It's a vision that ignites hope and inspires the best in us.

[@hudakp1]

This is a war universe. War all the time. That is its nature.

[@dakrisht]

It’s fun to imagine things. But not close to reality.

[@flightevolution8132]

Why imagine something that will NEVER happen and is fundamentally against human nature? Waste of time.

[@kutter_ttl6786]

BOOOOORRRRIIING!

[@willdejong7763]

The people of Cambodia were like that. Peaceful. Trusting. How did that work out? Pol Pot handed out machine guns to the least educated and most brutal of the people he could find and it all came to an end. Millions died. At the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine had a bunch of nuclear weapons and gave them to Russia with the promise that Russia would never invade. Do you think that Russia would have invaded if Ukraine still had their nuclear arsenal? How many dead Ukrainians and Russians, killed in the current conflict, would still be alive now?

[@TriphexCorporation]

This company is extremely interesting to us. We will be keeping an eye on Anduril during its IPO.

[@crashcrain]

The next Arms program will be small, inexpensive drone swarms that utilize AI to not only seek out and find targets, but proceed on their own to destroy them. Imagine a square mile completely protected by a small number of drones that will protect that entire Battlefield with no needed human input? Now Imagine a port or a coastline with that ability, or a whole city?

[@GaminHasard]

Indeed.

[@fanaticcoder3320]

EW entered the chat.

[@Funktastico]

you mean skynet ?

[@jamisonmunn9215]

When I see it tried on the USA border I will believe it. Shut the border with autonomous drones.

[@brentsrx7]

Imagine being a political outsider who is critical of the military industrial complex. Maybe that statement should be passed tense.

[@MechAdv]

I got three interviews with these guys back in 2020, but unfortunately they went with another candidate. This looks like it would have been an absolute engineer’s paradise to work there. Disappointing.

[@hdtravel1]

These are some very cool high tech weapons - good to have in our arsenal - nice story

[@HiAndyDog]

"Without putting people at risk", yeah, right

[@willcall9431]

I can imagine it’s much more difficult to operate in the current global environment than it was for Lockheed and Boeing when they started out.

[@ryanburbridge]

Funny that this pops up. I was just at their facility in Costa Mesa this week. Interesting

[@sambatterman8897]

Original Tacit Rainbow concept that Northrop messed up in the 1980s being picked up 30 years later with cheap sensors, better software and a great business model.

[@notmyburner3225]

It seems that their strategy embraces the idea of technology that can be deployed at scale & is attritable. Really liked the slight diss towards the DoD's COIN procurement. I wonder if these guys make portable EW systems and or systems akin to FPV's & Lancet drones?

[@jamesharding3459]

I doubt it. Why sell a handful of

[@notmyburner3225]

@@jamesharding3459 Why not do both? EW is extremely profitable, especially if you can make it attritable. Considering how prominent FPV's & drones are in warfare now, portable & attritable EW is likely going to be something sought out.

[@threewishes777]

Remember this guy. Good to see him thriving.

[@nuclear_robot]

Amazing innovation! However, Anduril needs to change their company name to Cyberdyne to match the trajectory of this narrative.

[@samlichtensteinthemovie]

Black mirror episodes are just a documentary at this point

[@iamM4SK3D]

fun fact! Andúril is named after the sword in Lord of the Rings. its elvish for "flame of west" and "sword reforged" both titles are very well suited!

[@Kenanhower]

I was waiting for someone to reference this. Took far too much scrolling

[@KlausBahnhof]

The name isn't well suited at all. Tolkien hated war.

[@DeleLang]

Fun fact, Anduril is from JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings saga. It was the sword used to cut off Sauron's finger and was later given to Aragorn to finish the business.

[@bossywossy111]

When all these units are built, and ready to be deployed and control. There going to need to start watching the SC2 leaderboards for operators.

[@Errr717]

As long as politicians are involved in the acquisition of defense materiel the big primes will always be there to appease them. Additionally the admirals and generals who were influential in the military retire to cushy executive and board level positions at the big primes. Nothing will change. Anduril's best strategy is to work with the people at the bottom of the acquisition chain and get their products to the war fighters who will then demonstrate to their superiors the capabilities of Anduril's products.

[@kyotra]

If it undermines the bloat tied to the current system then I'm all for it.

[@ash38287]

Yes. Anduril is not competing with existing Primes and their market will remain largely unperturbed by Anduril, at least in the short-medium term. What it seems to be doing is creating a new market (or, perhaps better, reconstructing the boundaries of the existing one). Very smart, Mr. Luckey. I'd be interested to learn where his engineering talent comes from.

[@carlross-works630]

I really think we need an ethical debate on the use of autonomous weapon systems. Especially around lethality decisions. Do you want a robot deciding when to shoot.

[@johnl.7754]

Wish them luck in shaking up the hugely wasteful Defense industry

[@raquetdude]

Not with a tech sector approach … tech sector has been incredibly wasteful and is literally awful when it comes to finance, remember Oculus got major of its funding/tech from HTC and Valve. The tech sector business model is awful, what’s needed is for monopolies to be broken up is all and for European / Japanese / Korean / Australian companies to be allowed to work with the USA easier.

[@Sanyu-Tumusiime]

Why would we let Europe Korea and Australia work with us? Their technology is LOW TECH and they're decades and decades behind. We don't need to work with them. We simply need to unleash American innovation. It is the people of the United States that make this country so great. If we simply unleash our own people, we will be able to produce new things that you could never have imagined. America has a great population, just believe in our own people. @@raquetdude

[@sterlingmarshel6299]

@@raquetdude We don't need second-rate countries controlling our tech. The U.S leads in tech full stop

[@lilblondeboy4142]

@@Sanyu-Tumusiimenah those country are leading players in many sectors.

[@anh-quanle4399]

@@Sanyu-Tumusiime South Korea has made quite good tanks and automated gun system for border protection

[@johnsmith803]

This is actually going to have profound effects on warfare

[@21stchill18]

I would love to work for companies like this. I like how the US splurge on "things" even when they are already dominating. US as a country, is smart, and I love that.

[@Tommy1977777]

The lady commenting about the military liking to buy "things" is correct: Design a training PROGRAM for the military. This would allow mass production of spec ops.

[@Rheault101]

Anduril and Palantir together is the futur of defense.

[@Casyfill]

And the ring

[@geargeekpdx3566]

OK Thanks Mr Frodo

[@TadeuszM]

And your future society/open prison

[@BuddyGorey]

@JenReynolds880dumb bot? What the

[@BuddyGorey]

@LaureanoSantandervery dumb bot

[@scittleboy]

I wonder how often these people think about Terminator and SkyNet

[@jimmygore8214]

Not at all apparently

[@chavdarnaidenov2661]

The motive "Make it more expensive, to increase the profit" holds for small newcomers, too. It also holds for the client - the military top brass. They will get lucrative consulting jobs a few years after pushing through any new weapons system or a new order for ammunition.

[@nomad640]

Did you know all military procurement have a limit on how much profit you can make from each product ? You didn't know it do you? Of course you dont.

[@nomad640]

They got lucrative job because engineer is neither soldier or Commander. They need an ex officer to explain what the military currently need, and would potentially need in the future. It isn't that complex

[@chavdarnaidenov2661]

You are more insistent than convincing. Objective "Limits for profits" are possible only if the products do not change qualitatively for decades. Profit, as a rule , is some percentage of the final sales cost. So, the way to increase profit is to increase that cost. And this is done by increasing the expenses in R&D, production and maintenance. Methods are: outlandish ideas, overengineering, complex maintenance etc etc.@@nomad640

[@chavdarnaidenov2661]

@@nomad640"Of course you dont.". Of course I don't. :) The profit motive is at the basis of capitalism.

[@AdamBoozer]

Very cuberpunk like. Shadow run style. Drone operators seem to be heading that way anyway. The power mullet helps.

[@dondouglass6415]

This seems like a brilliant business model. I really hope it breaks the mold of what is on offer at the moment. Please, can the UK have a company like this!!?

[@123Andersonev]

no and it's pointless anyway because as soon as it fills a void it will get bought up by one of the main players.

[@carloscampo9119]

Contractor concentration and the death of competition in the Defense sector, alognside with VERY misplaced incentives as laid out here by the Anduril Co-founder, put the capability and strength of the entire Western defense sector at risk, when competitors are challenging democracy and showing ever more capabilities.

[@CantThinkofaCoolOne]

Palmer must be quite the exceptional man. All the best to the guy.

[@luminescentlion]

This video makes it seem like Anduril will just be another big sub contractor instead of a new Prime.

[@ChevyRob313]

We need more businesses and ceos like this that push industry and influence while thinking outside the box of standard templates for invention

[@jhaduvala]

NO...we don't.

[@yairmarquez6361]

This is honestly very cool. I hope it doesn't move too fast, and we end up like Horizon zero dawn

[@paulywalnutz5855]

imagine having to live deep underground as millions of drones hunt anything with two legs

[@MrTsiolkovsky]

Saw a guy with an Anduril jacket at my local supermarket. Welcome to Boston, the cutting edge.

[@Dikdusa]

Another consideration is training for some of these systems, think about how much it costs to train a pilot, not only just from a cost perspective but time as well.

[@MrSailor7x]

We’ve been trying to do unmanned combat since the Eisenhower administration because of cost and moral hazard. Francis Gary Powers really hit hard.

[@oStealthKiller]

They said their goal is to buck the traditional trend with more advanced military hardware where user experience was typically made more difficult due to innovation that increased specialized training to operate it by making the software to operate the system extremely easy to use. A crude allegory would be training time to use a rifle vs to understand and identify tactics to use in real time in new/varied environments; their goal is for the operator to need the equivalent training investment for its use as the firearm training in the previous situation.

[@minenation5156]

Rise of terminator? Jokes aside... autonomous defense systems are in rise and i feel it can be seen to drive the slowing defense industry.

[@kevinjenner9502]

“Pentagon fails audit for sixth year in a row” Reuters 11/15/23

[@mehlooli]

Pardon my ignorance, but doesn't a larger volume of autonomous weapon systems, that are more easily available with lower resource requirements (man, money and time) also make going to war faster than the current status quo? I know precision is one of the benefits, but doesn't risks with gamifcation and automated intelligence raise significant safety risks? Would be great if someone can share their pov.. super intereted.

[@Overworkedandunderpaid]

It’s a very good approach to the work.

[@marcusoutdoors4999]

Genuinely impressed and thank god the US is getting its act together. My only concern is what happened when their system is hacked be a bad actor which may be an AI and the weapons are redirected towards us? Not a Teminator conspiracy theorist, a genuine question, how specifically can we protect against this?

[@oStealthKiller]

Most advanced software software and chip development/developers is a good start (this company has an inside track on the talent pipelines that are that level (national security) and know what it takes to recruit them). There are a number of more detailed tools these people/process would create, but it boils down to having the best people/system/funding in place, which anyone entering that sphere would be fully aware of and planning for (like this company with proven assets and multibillion dollar resources).

[@MrClearview1]

I think some of their systems would be good for a Marine infantry unit, equipment they can mount on a vehicle or carry by foot into combat.

[@h.c4898]

They try to go unmanned.

[@MrClearview1]

yes, but if an infantry unit can deploy in the field, would give them one for unique too to accomplish their mission.@@h.c4898

[@oStealthKiller]

Or deploy above them to serve as extremely narrowed air superiority in a firefight with ground forces.

[@ges8790]

The people who keep pushing never ending wars.

[@Burnenwhysee]

Why dont you make videos about the UAP disclosure issue? it relates to this.

[@Dudevegaslv]

Anduril will make the benchmark for all the other military contractors to think about how they are doing business and spend more money on new technology!

[@jonathanjacob5453]

So you think the people lining their pockets will just step to the side?

[@arkitect156]

One if the main problems we need ti tackle is that the government usesna few exclusive companies and they basically charge whatever they want. One company chargus us almost 80,000 dollars for a chip thsts conventionaly only a couple Thousand at most. It's insane

[@yougetaspear7799]

It's massive corruption pure and simple

[@lindaj5492]

Is anyone else noticing the name Anduril is from LOTR?

[@closingtheloop2593]

2:42 exactly. As someone who works in big defense, there is no system to dev better software like they are doing at Anduril. Im sold. Job app submitted.

[@joelx77]

This is basically an Anduril ad.

[@erniea5843]

WSJ is a known warmonger. I used to subscribe and half of their headline stories were about China, Russia, Iran, etc.

[@raquetdude]

The tech world and it’s investor system is INCREDIBLY awful from how it’s reliant on fake hype waves and dips. Rather not have defence based on this principle

[@scotttrafford5671]

I’d like to see a lot more thought given to risks, and unintended consequences. This looks more like “if we can do it, we should” without much thought to much else. And did the anduril’s founder infer at the end that his company is somehow not backed by investors?

[@cbisjr]

id like to see a war game where its Anduril vs current military.

[@Kurzula5150]

Palmer Luckey is what you get if you mix The Dude Lebowski with Walter Sobchak.

[@AmazingJayB51]

Reminds me of Syndrome form the Incredibles movie.

[@Oompa_Output]

Sadly they are right on, but we need scalable iterative design shifting systems integrated as well like what Tesla does with its cars.

[@surelyyoujokemeinfailure7531]

According to Peter Zeihan, this process is already well underway. AI drone swarm combat.

[@amazin7006]

​@@surelyyoujokemeinfailure7531 What's the point of drone swarms when America's primary export for decades has been in technology research/design and not manufacturing. We can have the best drones, but china will just build 100x lesser quality drones.

[@adamhodgson8851]

Listen to this man!

[@bossybill7437]

At 4:25 (Anduril is) "Going the opposite direction..." There is nothing wrong, as such, with existing military equipment. It covers a very necessary space. Anduril should visualise themselves as filling gaps in this space. It would be a mistake for the defence industry to join the to-ing and fro-ing of fashion waves. More like as described at 4:37.

[@user-ss7xv4jk4c]

5:24 I love that the founder looks the way he does, and also holds up the wrong number lol I bet he has an interesting story

[@schlirf]

One question, actually two, that needs to be posed: What will be the MOS training for the operators and how thorough will be? Second, how secure is the software from outside attack(s)?

[@dennisaleander5175]

Palmer Lucky: I don’t care about any of that.

[@KuatoLives99]

Iran was hacking reapers and predators from software from Russia. They were able to hijack the signal from the satellite communications

[@edwardbug68]

"One question, actually two,...." is phrasing used in spoken language not written. It shows someone is re-composing their message on the fly because the communication is happening in real time. You had all the time you needed to revise your comment, you didn't need to communicate "I have a question for you. Wait, no, I have two questions for you..." because you had the time you needed to just edit your comment and write, "I have two questions for you?". Who writes like this? Why use such unnecessary artifice in a youtube comment?

[@schlirf]

@@edwardbug68 Thank you English Professor Bug. I'll take a gentlemanly "C" from your english composition class here. See you next semester?

[@EdwardKeefe]

As a person that followed Oculus... he did not "first find success" when Facebook bought them, that was when he first got his bag of cash. Oculus was already the premier VR headset and they were revolutionizing or i should say... creating the entire VR market.

[@thecardbaron6871]

Fun Fact, Anduril is the sword of Aragorn from Lord of The Rings and the logo here is the Pommel from the sword used in the movies!

[@raquetdude]

No… they just have a really good PR team. This design - Roadrunner is very odd for what they say it would be used for. Look at what other professionals are saying and this is mostly to get investor attention. The tech ain’t unique for arms production it’s their PR that is.

[@AbcdEfgh-sq2tf]

Explain Im lost

[@13BulliTs]

@@AbcdEfgh-sq2tf Their are more inventors with similar or even better systems, their video editing is top notch for what they show and regular people are in awe. But on closer inspection by professionals it is flimsy or not complete yet. Besides they never give info about their prizing of their items rather vague.

[@sterlingmarshel6299]

very vague - other professionals? The company is already building and shipping products.

[@dianapennepacker6854]

For me? We need cheaper, mass produced gear. Why can't they make this to carry a net that it swings under it or drops? So it is reusable. They are expensive missiles. We don't need expensive missiles. We need cheap things. You know make a drone that can shoot other drones down with bullets. You know what they should design is The Expanse Style Point Defense systems that can shoot down incoming missiles and drones, but are small enough to fit on a vehicle. I would be dropping billions on such a thing if I were the military.

[@verrico7536]

@@13BulliTs So vague and poorly spelt that I dont trust any of what you're saying

[@user-lb8bg6kj9m]

He should call his product.... *Luckey Strike* 🚬

[@daveyhu]

underrated

[@jarrettbobbett5230]

solid video

[@XxDreamBotxX]

Autonomous integrated fighting/defense system is the future